Flashback
by Frontier Productions
Summary: A Ghost trooper was wounded in heavy fighting when his squad was ordered to take an Uplink Node. The battle was a decisive turning point in the young soldier's life.     /-WARNING: SOME VULGAR MATERIAL IS PRESENT-\


_**A/N: Right. EndWar oneshot time. BOO-YAH!**_

Private Jim Alderman ducked as bullets pounded into the small concrete pillar that he took cover behind. The impacts making slight metallic noises as they hit. Looking to his left he saw the rest of his squad hiding behind similar objects. Behind the squad was a large park whose name he didn't know, since this was Euro lands. He than peeked his head around the pillar and looked downrange. Instead of the Enforcer Corps shooting at them, it was the Spetsnaz Guard Brigade. The bastards had better cover than Alderman's squad and were laying down some heavy fire. When it's three against one, you know your in trouble.

"Alderman! Fire your weapon!" screamed one of his squad mates, he couldn't tell who. Lifting his rifle to his shoulder he kept himself halfway around the corner as he let off three rounds, a pause between each shot. The first two rounds impacted the destroyed car that was located in front of a blown out building. The sparks rose into the air and sent some of the Wolves diving for cover. The third round struck one of the Wolves in the shoulder, sending him sprawling out along the ground. Alderman grinned at his success as he barely heard the last brass casing hit the ground.

His victory was short-lived, however, as gunfire started to pound away at his position. Swinging his body back around he rested his left shoulder against the pillar as he waited for the fire to die down. The Wolves apparently thought that he was a sniper or something and wanted him dead.

Hearing the crunching of treads on dirt and than the clacking of them on concrete, Alderman looked to his right. Coming towards him and his squad was a M118 Fastback. The vehicle was JSF's primary ground troop transport vehicle. In the middle of a firefight, however, it was suicidal to board them. This specific Fastback had the 30mm gatling gun replaced with the more powerful, and versatile, AA Railgun. It also sported a TOW Missile System on the side of the turret.

The vehicle stopped almost directly behind Alderman and the squad and sat there for a second, idle. Bullets bounced off the hull, creating sparks and clanging noises. The bullets ricocheted but, luckily, they did so away from the Ghosts.

With loud booms the vehicle finally opened fire. The rounds sped off at extreme speed before slamming into the Spetsnaz positions. The squad at the car was taken out first while the other two took cover behind piles of rubble and behind sandbag walls. The sandbag position was targeted next and the dirt-filled sacks were blasted away, leaving the Wolves behind them to be easy targets. The Wolves were gunned down, their bodies being shred to pieces by the large rounds that the Fastback fired. Their blood, bone, and brain splattering against the ground.

With the tides turned it was obvious that the Ghosts would win,

"Forward!" cried Alderman's squad leader. The sergeant swung out of cover and started charging towards the last squad of Spetsnaz. Alderman stepped up and around his own cover and started sprinting towards them as well. He kept his rifle aimed at the rubble as he ran, waiting for them to pop their heads out. Behind him, Alderman heard the Fastback revving up and than the crunching of gravel as it followed the charging Ghosts.

The Wolves swung out of cover simultaneously and opened up. The bullets sped past Alderman and his squad mates, impacting the ground around them. The rounds kicked up the asphalt and sparks rose from some of the impacts. Out of the corner of his eye, Alderman saw one of his squad mates raise his rifle at the Wolves. The M203 barrel under the barrel of the rifle shone brightly in the sunlight.

With a thump the round was away and it slammed into the Spetsnaz position. Not a second, Alderman heard a whoosh and a missile, apparently the TOW missile, flew past him and slammed into the rubble as well. The screams of dying soldiers was obvious as Alderman charged up the side of the rubble. Reaching the top he switched his rifle's fire selector to 'Auto' and sprayed down at where the Wolves should have been.

He was correct at where they were and the screams of their deaths rang in his ears. With the Wolves dead, Alderman's sergeant approached the, now halted, Fastback. The hatch on top of the turret swung open and the top half of a soldier in a foliage green jumpsuit and tanker helmet appeared. The Cross-Com immediately identified the man's rank as Sergeant Major.

"Thanks for the support!" the Ghost sergeant yelled up to him. The tanker nodded,

"Anytime! I've been put with your squad for additional support!" he yelled down to the Ghost. Alderman raised a brow. Usually the Fastbacks worked in platoons of four. If they were splitting up the platoons, than the fighting must not be going in the JSF's favor. The entire squad shared a look before the sergeant answered,

"Roger that! We were tasked with taking an Uplink one street over. We lost are company and were pinned down, but now that we have your support, we should be able to take it. It should only be infantry all the way to the Uplink!" the Fastback commander nodded,

"Right, well, let's get to it than!" he yelled before going back into the vehicle, closing the hatch as he did so. Alderman's sergeant nodded before turning back to his squad.

"Let's move it on out!" he yelled as he started jogging up the street. Alderman and the rest of the squad followed him. A soft squishing noise emanated from under Alderman's boots as he passed through the area that use to house the Spetsnaz sandbag bunker. He ignored what that might mean and continued on after his squad.

They ran a good half a mile before the sergeant turned them down an alleyway. Alderman followed but when he looked back at the Fastback he saw that it could barely fit. The sides of the vehicle were scraping against some jutting out pipes. For some odd reason there were no dumpster or garbage cans in the alley, lucky them.

Reaching the and of the alleyway, the sergeant held up his fist and got against the wall. The wall sported a garage door, which is what the rest of the squad got against. The Fastback stopped as well, waiting for the sergeant to do something.

Seeing that the small element had stopped the sergeant peeked his head around the corner. Instantly, gunfire peppered the corner and the road near the sergeant, who raised his own rifle and opened up. There was a small, wrecked car, just a few feet away from the alley entrance. Without waiting for the order, the Ghost behind the sergeant sprinted out to it. Getting to the cover he stood in the middle of the wreck and fired over the roof of the destroyed vehicle. The next Ghost sprinted from the alley and made it to the car as well, providing his own covering fire. It went the same way with the next one, than it was Alderman's turn. Standing behind the sergeant, who was still laying down covering fire, he took a deep breath before pushing forward with his legs. He came out from the alleyway and was met with the snapping of close-by rounds. Bullets kicked up the asphalt and concrete around him as he sped across the short span of area. Reaching the car he threw himself behind the hood of the car and tried to calm his breathing. Looking to his right he saw his squad mate leaning to the right to shoot over where the windshield would be.

Getting to the kneeling position he put the butt of the rifle to his shoulder and opened up. He had switched the gun back to Semi-Automatic and was doing controlled shots. The hostiles were behind some more sandbags. The yellow flashes of their AK's were prominent as the rounds that were fired flew past Alderman's head. With a thump and clang the sergeant came sliding to rest behind the car as well.

With all of the Ghosts out of the way, the Fastback came speeding out of the alley, it's treads kicking up gravel and dirt. It than skidded to a stop in the center of the road, kicking up more gravel. Bullets ricocheted off the hull, causing sparks to be created. The turret of the Fastback started to traverse towards the Spetsnaz infantry. The turret finally rested on the Spetsnaz and Alderman could smell the anticipation of the AA guns about to fire-

When a chunk of gravel was blown apart right next to the APC.

"Ogre!" cried out one of his squad mates. Turning to face down the road he saw it. The T-100 Ogre was an ugly son of a bitch. The thing had two machine-guns sticking up on top of it, as well as small spiked stripes on the corners of the front of the tank. The tank was huge and had a very flat turret. It was capable of obliterating unprotected APCs and light tanks.

The Fastback didn't move and just aimed at the Ogre. It than opened up with the Railgun as well as two, not one, but two TOW missiles at once. The missiles sped out of their tubes and sliced through the air, trying to get to the Ogre. The Railgun rounds were barely making a dent in the vehicle while the Fastback was rocking backwards with each shot it fired.

One squad of Wolves, seeing the Ogre, rushed out of cover to get behind it. Alderman's squad gunned some of them down. Finally, after what seemed like eternity the TOW missiles hit dead-on. The explosions blocked the view of the T-100 for a few seconds. When the smoke cleared-

the T-100 was still standing.

The tank than fired with a thunderous roar. The round slammed into the side of the Fastback. The thin armor didn't stand a chance, the round punctured straight into the vehicle. The round struck the ammo can for the AA gun and exploded. The resulting explosion blew apart the APC and sent shrapnel flying.

Alderman heard a scream and looked over to see a large gash in one of his squad mates' arm. The man's blood spilled out of the gash as he laid on his back, holding the wounded arm with his other hand. The screams pierced the air as the man pushed himself farther into cover with his feet.

"We gotta move! Grab him and let's go!" the sergeant yelled as he stood up and sprayed at the enemy positions. One of the other men grabbed the wounded man and started dragging him back into the alleyway as the rest provided cover fire. The sergeant looked behind him to see them behind cover,

"Alright! Let's-"

The sergeant was interrupted by a bullet entering his right eye when he looked back at the Spetsnaz positions. The bullet exited out the back of the helmet and impacted the wall a bit behind the squad. The sergeant's rifle lowered slowly as he exhaled his last breath in an elongated gasp. The sergeant than dropped forward onto the car. Alderman was standing there, aghast at the sight. His rifle had lowered and his eyes were wide with shock.

He was shaken back to reality by the last remaining Ghost that was at the car with him,

"Jim! Jim!" Alderman shook his head and looked at him, "We gotta go man! We gotta move!" his squad mate yelled into his face. Alderman nodded and turned and started to backpedal away from the Spetsnaz as he raised his rifle. His aiming of the rifle was cut short as a sledgehammer rammed into his chest, sending him down onto his back. He started to breath faster as he looked down. The area where the bullet hit was bent inwards and blood had already started to seep through the gap. His breathing increased even more and he started shaking,

"I'm hit! I'm hit!" he started screaming over and over again. As he screamed that he threw his hands over the gap in the hope of stopping the bleeding. He felt someone's knuckles dig into his upper back and than he felt himself being dragged backwards, towards the alleyway. His rifle dragged along the ground next to him as he still wore the sling that connected it to him.

Hearing rotor blades slicing away the air, Alderman let his head roll to the left to see two AH-80 Blackfoots hovering over the road, only a few yards away from the squad's former position. The Blackfoots let off a burst of their cannons before firing off three missiles at the Ogre. Letting his head roll to the right he had enough time to see the Ogre explode in a huge fireball before he finally entered the alleyway. He saw one of his squad-mates giving covering fire from the corner of the alley. Rolling his head towards the Blackfoots he saw them firing at the Wolves, the screams of said soldiers filling the air.

Alderman felt himself being set with his back against the wall before the loss of blood started blurring his vision. His head started rolling from side to side as he sat there. The face of his squad-mate entered his blurry view. The monocle was glowing blue and the helmet had a piece that extended in front of his mouth.

"Hey! Jim! Stay awake man! Stay awake!" his voice was distorted but Alderman could get the gist of what he was saying. He tried to respond but found that his voice box didn't work anymore. His vision swirled as a blackness finally entered his vision. His friend's voice drifted out and he could just barely see his mouth moving. He barely caught a glimpse of another soldier kneeling down next to him, the red cross prominent on his shoulder pad, even through his blurry vision.

The blackness finally swallowed his vision and his mind...

* * *

Alderman's eyes snapped open. That was a mistake as a bright light blinded him. Closing his eyes he was than assaulted by an intense headache. Rolling his head around from the pain he noticed that there was something soft under his head, as well as the rest of his body. A soft beeping noise entered his ears as well and he noticed that his armor seemed lighter and more... free than it should have been. Opening his eyes he looked down to the rest of his body. What he saw surprised him as he was wearing a hospital gown instead of his armor. He wasn't wearing a helmet due to the lack of a Cross-Com.

Looking around he saw pure white walls and that under him were white sheets. The room was a one-patient room and he saw a window on one of the walls, with it's blinds down. Looking over his shoulder he saw the pace monitor that made sure his heart was beating regularly. He saw tubes and other things sticking out of, and attached to, his body.

He sighed as he realized that it was just another flashback. He let his head fall against the pillow and stared at the ceiling. He remembered what happened afterward. He had woken up a few times in the back of a Fastback with a medic over him the entire time. After those short periods of consciousness he slipped back into the black. He than woke up again in a field tent and had asked questions about the mission.

Apparently, the battle had been going south well before the Fastback came to support his squad. His squad was actually the only JSF unit within a mile radius. The Fastback was pulled from the heavy fighting and sent to support them as they saw the Uplink as a vital position to take. They hadn't anticipated the arrival of an Ogre however. They had marked the squad and Fastback as KIA before the Ogre even fired. They watched as the Fastback was demolished and as his squad was in the process of getting mowed down.

Luckily an Airborne battalion, Alderman didn't ask the specifics of the battalion, moved into the combat area and threw in Blackfoots, Ghosts, and Razorbacks into the fray. When Alderman's commander got the new support he instantly directed the three Blackfoots to Alderman's squad. Once the Ogre and Wolves were eliminated the Blackfoots moved on to the next target. The squad was alone until two platoons of Fastbacks, backed by one company of Ghosts and a platoon of M5A2s rode up next to the alleyway. That was when the squad had been evacuated from the battle zone.

He was glad to hear that the sergeant's body was recovered and was to be sent back to the States and buried with multiple honors.

The door creaking open caught the young soldier's attention. Looking over he saw the an attractive face with medium length blonde hair peeking around it. Her hair was put up in a ponytail and her eye shadow was very complementing to her skin. She fully entered the room, the scrubs she wore were of a light blue which matched her eye shadow. Her body was of a hourglass shape which she made sure to emphasize.

She closed the door as she stepped into the room and walked up to the foot of his bed. She than plucked the clipboard off of the rail and examined it, flipping up the front page. She glanced at him and smiled as she continued to examine the board. Alderman snapped out of his trance and smiled back.

"Well" she started. Her voice was angelic, "You seem to be recovering well" she than frowned, "Though I see you've been experiencing flashbacks, is that correct?" she asked him, looking straight at him as she waited for the answer. Alderman looked at the wall over her shoulder for a second before looking back at her face,

"Yes, I have been" he answered truly. She looked at him with a sympathetic look before going back to his chart. She flipped the first page back down and hung it off the railing again,

"Right. Well, you should be out of here in less than two weeks" she said before turning to leave. Alderman looked at the gown but looked back up at her as he heard the door opening. She was halfway out of the door,

"Hey!" Alderman called. She looked back at him. Alderman swallowed the lump in his throat before asking,

"What's you name?" she smiled at him. She brushed some stray hairs out of her face before answering him,

"Ashley" she said honestly. Alderman smiled,

"Mind if I buy you lunch when I get out of here? Gotta have a good amount of money coming my way" he asked her. Her smile widened,

"You asking me out soldier?" she asked him.

"I'm afraid that's on a need to know basis Miss Ashley" Alderman replied with a large smile on his face. She giggled a bit before waving at him,

"Than I guess I'll just have to wait than" she said in a very suggestive tone. She than left the room and closed the door. Alderman whistled as he set his head back against the pillow. That was one good thing about the States after war... the women.

_**A/N: Right-eo! The Oneshot is complete! Just a note: Private Alderman is not connected AT ALL with 1st Lieutenant Jim Alderman of my story **_**Beserker Battalion****_. Hope you enjoyed this little oneshot of mine about EndWar._**


End file.
